T. Rowe Price 1Q profit triples as market rallies

BALTIMORE 
Investment manager T. Rowe Price Group Inc. said Friday its first-quarter profit tripled, as the market rallied and investors put more money into their mutual funds.

For the three months ended March 31, net income rose to $153 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with profit of $48.2 million, or 19 cents per share, in the 2009 first quarter.

Revenue after interest expense rose 45 percent to $556.2 million, from $384.5 million last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected higher profit of 59 cents per share on revenue of $574.1 million.

Shares wobbled in morning trading. After touching a new 52-week high of $59.44 shortly after the opening bell, the stock lost traction and dipped 4 cents to $58.94 on moderate volume.

T. Rowe Price said assets under management rose to $419 billion in the first quarter, from $268.8 billion last year. Net cash inflows totaled $10.3 billion, while higher market valuations and income added $17.4 billion to assets under management.

At quarter end, assets under management included $249.5 billion in T. Rowe Price's U.S. mutual funds and $169.5 billion in other managed investment portfolios.

President and CEO James A.C. Kennedy said the market rally buoyed results for the quarter. "Global fiscal and monetary stimulus have done a great deal to restore confidence in the stability of the world's economies," he said. "Although there is still plenty of uncertainty, we remain positive on the market's prospects and believe that equity markets continue to offer attractive opportunities for the long-term investor."